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Chapter 7
The feast continued for a while later and Freiya was rather certain that Thor and his friend at least would not call it a night for a rather long while yet.
She did not know for certain but it seemed to her as if Loki had only stayed this long to humor her. The dark-haired prince had not been in a chatty mood for most of the evening and Freiya had spent some time after Frigga and Odin had left, simply listening to Thor and his friends who seemed to be reveling in some of their former conquests. She could not fail to notice how Loki had been part of the narrations over and over. It was also obvious Thor's friends did not hold the magically inclined prince in any high regard.
She had heard Loki mutter a few scathing comments though about how he had been the one to bring them out alive. His mutterings had not been loud enough though to register within the by now heavily alcohol-addled minds of Thor and his friends.
Freiya easily stood from her chair as soon as Loki started to get up next to her, obviously annoyed enough by the company for the night. Thor appeared unfazed by them leaving, Freiya was not entirely sure he had even noticed it at all.
The halls of the palace had grown almost deserted, safe from a few guards who stood at their receptive posts, dressed in shining gold armor.
"Why is so bright still?" Freiya broke their companionable silence after a few moments. She knew logically that it must be very late into the night already, but what she could see out of the large windows scattered around the hall, was way too light for her understanding of nighttime.
"You are used to the stars of Midgard" Loki answered easily and Freiya noticed how his voice had lost the annoyed edge it had carried through most of the evening "There are different galaxies surrounding Asgard".
Freiya stopped in her steps and peered out of the window next to them. She had already seen on the previous day how different the sky looked above Asgard from the view she was used to from the earth. At night the differences were even starker.
"Are the stars closer here?" she wondered and turned slightly to face Loki again.
The prince had been watching her intently as she gazed out of the window a moment ago and Freiya just could not pinpoint the emotions within his green eyes although there definitely was something.
"Not necessarily closer" Loki tried to explain "You will need to learn about the differences in how these galaxies have come to be to grasp the concept. I would not wish to bore you with such dry matters".
Frowning slightly at the absurdity of the answer, as if anything he could tell her about the world, she knew basically nothing about could really bore her in any way, Freiya fully concentrated on Loki. The prince was leaning against the frame of the window almost casually. At least as casually as this bulky armor allowed him. His whole poise screamed of a weirdly elegant air of power. She huffed lightly under her breath "I should know all of these things already" she pointed out with some bitterness to her tone, but she shook her head a little to shoo away the unwanted dark thoughts. They were no help in changing anything about her past anyway. She decided on a little diversion instead "Tell me something about yourself instead then, if knowledge about Asgard is boring, I am sure you are anything but that".
Loki's expression switched from relaxed to what Freiya knew now to be suspicion within a fraction of a second. "As noble as your act of loyalty in front of Thor and his little companions may be, you can drop it now" his words were hissed through clenched teeth and his green eyes blazed suddenly.
Freiya's frown deepened and although her instinctual reaction would have been to be affronted - she knew that some affront must have also shown on her features for a moment - she forced herself to remain calm. She had the suspicion that Loki was actually trying to rile her up, continuing to push her away and retain a distance between them. "I assure you, Loki, that I am not at all putting on an act of any kind" she tried to reassure the prince about her conviction "I am genuinely curious about you".
Her words did not seem to have a great effect on the prince and he scrutinized her for a rather long tense moment.
It seemed to Freiya as if Loki was actually getting frustrated with her persistence. She could not fully understand the reason behind this behavior. She would have assumed to be faced with some resistance but it appeared as if the prince was still more intent on not accepting her comradery at all.
She sighed when Loki suddenly turned on his heels and strode away without another word spoken between them. She considered calling behind him and asking him to wait up. But she doubted that she would like his reaction to it.
So, instead, Freiya continued through the halls alone for a long while. Her previous estimation had been correct and she was lost very quickly in the large palace. It took her some time to finally resign herself to the fact that she would not find her way back to her rooms if she did not ask for help before she indeed did that and asked one of the guards stationed where she had been lost for guidance.
The young man appeared almost startled to be addressed by her and Freiya wondered how little contact there must be between the royals who lived in this palace and the guards and other attendants who worked here to provoke this kind of reaction.
"Have you been working long in the palace?" she asked him in a kind tone while following him through the silent halls.
"I have been in the royal guard for three centuries, your majesty" he answered politely, only glancing at her fleetingly.
Freiya nodded with a thoughtful expression. She would need to ask about the life expectancy sooner rather than later to understand if this time was actually considered long or not on Asgard. As it was, she was at a loss on how to answer properly. She did not know enough about Asgard to judge if she may insult the man with a comment coming off as weird to him.
Thankfully, she had apparently not been far from her actual destination which saved her from what would have been rather embarrassing long moments and the man stopped only a few steps later again. It seemed that he had not expected an answer anyway and his expression was back to perfect detached politeness, pointing her down the hall where the door to her rooms was already visible.
Once inside the rooms, Freiya quickly shrugged off the dress and loosened her hair out of its intricate braids. It took her a while just as looking for the right things in the bathroom to take off the makeup.
Her mind was busy with other things though. She knew for certain that Loki was hiding something from everyone. What she could not wrap her mind around was the fact that no one seemed to care about whatever Loki may be hiding or not even the reason for his secrecy. She doubted the dark-haired prince actually trusted anyone within the palace fully.
One thing was for sure to her though, her supposed real family was much more complicated and complex than she ever had imagined whenever she had dreamed about finally reaching her goal and being united with them.
Thor seemed to be alright to her so far, while she was not sure about their parents. Something about Odin was setting her off deeply and she could not place Frigga yet.
Although it was late and her body was exhausted, most likely although, from her loss of control in the morning over her powers, her mind seemed hyperactive now. Freiya hoped that she had not done a mistake in showing Loki her hidden scars yet.
Even if Loki seemed to keep up the spell for her sake and she remained alone within her mind for the night, Freiya found very little rest. She could not shake off the questions of how her life and also how Loki's life may have been if she had never been abducted. Loki had called himself a monster for being a Frost Giant. There clearly had been a war between Asgard and the land of the Frost Giants, but how were the people of Asgard thinking about Frost Giants now? It could not be publicly known that Loki was of another species if the relationship between the lands was as bad as Loki's perception of being a Frost Giant was any indication.
She dearly hoped that the next few days would go over quickly and that trying to find a place on Asgard for herself would become a little easier with it.
Freiya's hope was granted to her in a rather weird way and the next two weeks flew by so quickly, she completely lost track of how long ago she had been brought to Asgard at all.
She only saw Loki very scarcely and when she did, the prince suddenly seemed to have the need to be at literally any other place. She had not gotten more from him than very formal greetings and goodbyes. She also could not shake the feeling that something was wrong with the prince. She had seen him carry himself with pride and maybe a bit of a show during the feast, but somehow Freiya had the impression Loki was almost subdued now whenever she saw him. The spell he held over her mind continued for parts of the time. Whenever they shortly ran into each other again in the palace, mostly in the halls or outside in the vast gardens, the prince reapplied it in passing if the spell had faded before.
Freiya could not yet detect any differences in the absolute loudness of Thor's thoughts whenever the spell was broken and she was open to everyone's thoughts around her. Thor had assured her though that he was meeting with Loki daily now in an attempt to try and ease the strain for her.
She did not know why, but for some reason, Loki's decision to help her control her magic had changed since the evening of the feast. On the first morning after the feast, an attendant knocked at her door and guided her toward rooms assigned to Frigga in order to share breakfast with her and Thor. She was told that Odin was busy and would not join them. She had also only scarcely seen her father in the following days.
A number of different tutors had been introduced to her during said breakfast. One, in particular, was supposed to help her learn how to control and channel her Seiðr as they called it on Asgard. There were others to teach etiquette to her, the history of the kingdom and the nine realms, and one to teach different languages of the nine reals to her.
She had tried to quiz the tutor assigned to help with her Seiðr on the visible connection which happened whenever she touched Loki. His reaction had been weird, to say the least, and it was apparent to Freiya that the man very well knew the answer but had been forbidden by someone to voice it to her. She had lost control of her Seiðr at that realization. If she hated one thing, it was deliberately kept secrets. Freiya did feel extremely guilty though when she noted just how bad the damage was which she had caused. Her tutor had needed to be transported to the infirmary and she did not see him again on the next day either. Her lessons on Seiðr she was told were canceled for now until her tutor would have recovered.
Freiya watched the attendant leave who had just told her about her canceled lessons with a frown. The frustration was growing within her daily now. She was not sure if it was only her perception or if she was deliberately kept away from Loki. She had considered if the prince might have chosen by himself that he did not deem her worthy of his company. But something within his gaze and posture during the last two weeks told her this was a lie.
She sighed and balled her hands into angry fists at her side for a moment before exhaling forcefully. She could feel the spell Loki held over her mind waver dangerously as she threatened to lose control of her emotions and powers once again. She took a few more moments to gather her thoughts and take a few calming breaths before she turned around from the window in her room and strode towards the door.
Freiya flung it open with much more force than necessary making the door rattle in protest at the manhandling.
She took one step out of her door and promptly ran face-first into Thor's broad chest.
"Uff…" she exclaimed in surprise at the indeed painful collision, but before she could stumble too far backward and lose her balance, she felt Thor's hands wrap themselves around her upper warms, holding her upwards.
Freiya gave her brother a slightly lopsided smile. She had gotten almost used in the last two weeks to really thinking of the God of Thunder as her brother. During her lessons on Seiðr, she had learned that she heard some inclination towards the control of thunder with Thor, otherwise she had failed to find any resemblance between them yet.
"Brother" she greeted him just as he let go of her arms.
The smile which took over his features at freely being called that title was heart-warming at least. She had intended to search out Frigga and question her about Loki, but she guessed that Thor might do as well "Do you happen to know if Loki is avoiding me?" she formulated her question in soft words, giving him her best impression of innocence.
She had to hold onto this picture of perfect innocence when she noted Thor losing his own composure at the easy question. Her brother's features were scaringly easy to read, it seemed the God of Thunder had either never had a reason to hide his feeling or simply indeed did not care that he was as easy to read as an open book. Right now, he was looking anywhere but into her eyes and it was taking him entirely too long to formulate an answer.
So, Loki was indeed evading her. She yet had to uncover though if it was the prince's choice. A small part of her – and she dearly hoped to be proven wrong – had the burning suspicion it may be Odin who had prohibited the younger prince to spend time with her.
"Don't worry about Loki. He has behaved perfectly normal" Thor seemed to have settled on evading the question altogether instead of just agreeing to it.
Freiya frowned at her older brother and crossed her arms over her chest "Don't you think that Loki has been rather distant?" she prodded. Whenever she had seen Loki, she thought he had appeared paler again. She also had not failed to note just how darkly the guards and attendants likewise were glaring at the prince.
Thor's still mostly happy smile cracked at that for a moment, before he shrugged "Loki is the very definition of distance".
Freiya shook her head at that with a flippant expression on her features. Right now, she would indeed wish to be able to hear Thor's thoughts once again, but she had no idea when she would indeed see Loki again and did not wish to break through his spell now.
"Do you want to come to the training grounds?" the prince asked, obviously trying to switch the topic and completely ignoring the growing frustration on his sister's features.
Freiya shook her head again. During the last two weeks, she had spent a considerable amount of time watching Thor and his friends train with each other, almost under the protection of Loki's spell though as she found their proximity unbearable if she had to listen to their thoughts.
"I will take a walk in the gardens" she proclaimed her plans instead. She had also taken up that habit since coming here. There was always the off-chance of running into Loki and Frigga. She had noticed that the prince only seemed to be out of the garden to visit the queen who spent a considerable amount of time outside, tending to a part of the garden herself. Her mother had shown her to that part of the garden rather proudly, apparently, some of the flowers only grew on Asgard and she had created them singlehandedly.
Thor's conflicting thoughts now if he should offer to accompany her to the garden or indeed leave her to go to the training doubts, undoubtedly where he had already set a meeting with his friends, was way too obvious on his face.
"There is no need to accompany me" she assured him. Thor seemed a little overprotective for her taste "I am not a child" she added to drive that point home, neither were they close yet. She could imagine that they may indeed grow to be close, but it would take time, much more than two weeks could offer.
Thankfully, Thor seemed to take the hint or at least was inclined to just go to the training pits to meet up with his friends without further discussion.
Freiya watched him leave for a moment before she set out towards the gardens on her own. She did nod in silent greeting to whatever guard or attendant she met on her way. She had watched Thor during the last days and it seemed her brother rarely paid any attention at all to those working in the palace, only if he really wanted something from them did he address them at all.
She wandered through the halls of the palace deep in thought. She was not entirely sure that her mother would actually be forthcoming with what she wished to know. Otherwise, she could always ask a guard for directions to Loki's room and hope that the prince would be there and open to see her.
Freiya looked up at the sky automatically as soon as she stepped out of the actual palace and into the garden. Two weeks on Asgard had not been enough yet to get used to the new surroundings and the glance at the sky still left her feeling a little unsettled. She also still had to actually see anything else of Asgard besides the palace, gardens, or training grounds. There had been no opportunities for her yet to venture out into the streets.
If she was honest with herself, no one had prohibited her from leaving the palace grounds. It was more her own fear which kept her there. Being in the palace had grown kind of safe. In the first few days, she had accompanied Thor to court meetings held by Odin, but Freiya did not go there anymore. She hated the way everyone was looking at her expectantly, watching her every move as if they were looking at some weirdly fascinating puzzle or maybe even at an explosive, ready to blow apart their world.
She ended up wandering through the garden for far longer than she had hoped in her search for Frigga. But after a long while and nearly giving up, she spotted the queen tending to one of the newer flower beds.
The queen was kneeling in front of the flower bed an apron covered her dress and her fingers were protected by gloves. A female attendant was kneeling next to her, visibly much younger than the queen, and acting as a helping hand to the queen.
Freiya hesitated for a moment, simply observing the scene from afar. She wondered if she would have been the helping hand next to the queen if she had grown up on Asgard as the rightful princess or if she would have had other duties to keep her busy during the day. Would she have been close to her mother if things had played out differently?
She shook her head at her own thoughts. No matter how hard Freiya tried these "what if"-scenarios kept on stealing themselves back into her mind and she knew that it was utterly foolish to even waste a second to think about them. Nothing could change the past and she could only spend the present and future to indeed find her place in this royal family. She also wondered if it may have been easier if her family was not the ruling one, but rather a normal working family, but she somehow doubted it would have changed all that much.
As soon as Freiya finally stepped closer, the queen noticed her approaching and stopped tending to the flowers, getting up in a gracefully fluent motion.
"Queen Frigga" Freiya greeted her respectfully. The woman had asked her before to be called "mother" but the title still felt wrong to Freiya and she hesitated to indeed make use of it.
She did note the fleeting flicker of pain flashing through Frigga's blue eyes "You came here with a purpose" the queen stated as if she was able to read her daughter's mind easily and waved the attendant away to give them privacy.
Freiya blinked slightly, surprised by the queen's perceptiveness for a moment. Maybe it had not only been her life's circumstances that made her so perceptive, but it might also have been an inherited talent from her mother after all.
She inclined her head in agreement though "You wanted to know what happened between my Seiðr tutor and me before I lost control" she started to explain. The queen had indeed questioned her on what had transpired, but Freiya had not answered the question on the previous day, still too shocked at the damage she had caused without even meaning to.
Frigga's expression was impossible to decipher and Freiya had the strong assumption Loki may have picked that up from the woman who had raised him. The queen led her a little further into the garden, walking for a few moments in silence until they reached a bench and sat down next to each other. "Tell me, child" the queen prompted in a soft voice.
Biting down the frown at being called "child" like that, Freiya answered wearily "I had asked the tutor about the connection between me and Loki…" she paused for a second. She had watched out if this connection repeated itself with anyone else, but so far, it had not, neither with Thor or the queen nor with her tutor or any of the attendants which had helped her since her arrival on Asgard.
The queen's expression seemed to become even less open and Freiya tensed in reaction. It was clear something was being kept from her deliberately at this point and she was determined to get to the bottom of it. "Go on, please" the queen prompted while her blue eyes were deeply looking at her daughter.
Freiya huffed slightly and her fingers balled into fists again as she felt her powers claw at her control "This connection has not repeated itself with anyone at all" she exclaimed and her voice grew slightly with each word being laced deeply with accusation.
The queen's expression did not show any signs of surprise at this little piece of information.
Freiya bit her lips together for a second, exhaling rather abruptly "He refused to answer about what this connection meant" she continued and the first signs of thunder began to rumble over the sky as it suddenly grew darker around them.
"Calm yourself, Freiya" Frigga seemed to try and gently admonish her.
Freiya did see the shimmer of blue Seiðr suddenly around the queen though and the fact that the queen must have already drawn up some kind of protection, somehow only spurred her anger "What does this connection mean?" she asked agitatedly as all kindness left her features, replaced by impatience.
The queen remained seemingly unfazed though and her voice was almost eerily calm as she answered. It was clear that she was also very carefully choosing every single word, speaking rather slowly "The connection is not unheard of, Freiya, it is nothing to be afraid of".
Freiya scowled at her mother "I am not afraid of it" she immediately retorted and it only continued to grow darker around them, unsatisfied with what she had received as an answer so far "I want to know about the meaning of this connection".
The queen cast a glance up at the sky and her expression showed some reproach when she looked back at Freiya "It was obviously foolish to think you could learn control of your Seiðr from someone besides Loki personally".
Freiya furrowed her brows and her lips thinned as her actually question was still unanswered. She was surprised and actually gave a little jump when Frigga reached out and took one of her hands into her own. The contrast between her Seiðr reacting to the unexpected contact with her own mother and how it reacted to Loki could not have been starker to Freiya. Little angry bolts seemed to erupt from her hands, they bounced off of the shining blue barrier encasing Frigga's hand harmlessly, but the intention behind her Seiðr was clear nonetheless.
"This connection you have with Loki" Frigga still held onto her hand "shows an instinctual kind of deep trust".
Freiya was surprised that the queen's tone rang with finality at the end of her words as if she would not tell her anything else, although she could sense there was much more to it. "This is all you are going to tell me, isn't it?" she checked with a frown, eyes flicking to their linked hands for a second.
The queen smiled almost ruefully for a moment before she nodded "I cannot reveal more at this moment".
Freiya frowned deeply at that and tilted her head slightly to the side, scrutinizing the queen and only being confused by this vague riddle-like answer. When the queen continued to meet her gaze completely unfazed, Freiya decided to drop that subject for now. Knowing that their connection spoke of instinctual trust, was actually really handy and it made a little fluttering feeling grow within her chest. Loki trusted her, no matter if the prince did so consciously or not, he did and that was what counted most to her now. It instantly got lighter around them again and the rumble of the starting thunder around them stopped as well.
"Loki has been avoiding me since the feast," she said and when the queen showed absolutely no reaction, Freiya added in an almost provocative tone "You don't happen to know why that may be the case, do you?" The few lessons on etiquette she had received had already been all but forgotten.
Displeasure seemed to melt into Frigga's expression and it seemed to Freiya as if the queen sagged a little, letting go of her proud composure for a fleeting moment before she smiled a little strained still "You can go and visit him. I shall speak to your father about this again".
Freiya blinked for a moment and the little harmless bolts which had continued to jump from her hand suddenly grew as the implications of the queen's last words sunk in. Her eyes flashed angrily. This time the queen did not stop her from pulling back her hand and standing up, as it grew dark around them within the flash of a second once more.
Frigga seemed sad now, but she said nothing as Freiya turned on her heel and stormed back towards the palace, followed by the growing rumble of thunder.
Freiya frowned at the sky when the first drops of rain started to fall down. She was frustrated with Odin and even within her mind she still refused to recognize the king as her rightful father for now. She did not understand why the kind must be so intent on keeping her distanced from Loki. But she could not come up with a different explanation. She could only assume now that Loki had been ordered by the king to keep his distance from her.
Loki looked up at the sky with a frown when he heard the rumble of thunder growing outside. He felt along the spell he was still upholding for Freiya, but nothing seemed amiss about it. It was still steadfastly in place. Whatever could have upset her, could not have been any direct thoughts from someone then.
He had seen and felt the outburst of raw Seiðr on the previous day and he had heard the attendants gossip about the princess lashing out at her tutor. No one knew of the reason for it though and Loki had not cared to question Thor on it.
The God of Thunder was showing a surprising amount of patience in trying to learn how to shield his own mind purely for Freiya's sake. Unsurprisingly to Loki, Thor, unfortunately, showed no inclination of any talent at it. When they had been taught the principles of Seiðr during their childhood, Thor had all but disregarded every detail about it, preferring to spend his complete time in the training pits, wiggling out of anything resembling theoretical lessons as soon as he somehow could get away with it. His utter failure at understanding even any kind of basics now hindered him greatly though.
Loki's patience on the other hand was slowly but surely wearing extremely thin with Thor. No matter how much he snarled at the God of Thunder, Thor would not be discouraged from returning every morning at the exact same time since the evening of the feast, listening to Loki's explanations about this kind of Seiðr usage with newfound attention. Every second of it was unnerving to him, but Thor as always seemed utterly blind to his discomfort.
When the first raindrops started to fall from the sky, Loki turned his back to his balcony and returned inside. He rolled his eyes slightly, wondering how long it would take for the people of Asgard to complain about the suddenly increased number of thunderstorms and rain. Asgard usually had a fairly mild and stable climate, something besides a moderately sunny day was unusual already.
There was still a rumble of thunder outside when a knock at his door called his attention. Loki frowned slightly. Thor had left for the day and it was unlikely for him to return. Frigga would have waited for him to come out into the garden to see him. That left only Odin or Freiya as his potential visitors. The king would have hardly taken a moment to knock though.
Loki stood up and actually went to the door instead of opening it with a simple spell. He was not surprised to see Freiya standing in the hallway. He frowned though at her appearance. She must have caused the storm still deep into the garden and the princess was soaked from head to toe from her way back inside and to his rooms.
He met her fiery gaze unimpressed. Odin's clear order to stay as far away from his daughter as possible if he did not want to end up in the dungeons instead rang loudly through his mind.
"The spell is still intact around your mind," Loki said calmly as if he was merely wondering why the princess was there at all.
Freiya rolled her eyes at him "Oh, really?" she retorted in a tone laced deeply with sarcasm.
Loki narrowed his green eyes at her "Was there something you wanted?"
"To be let inside for starters" Freiya shot back a second later as her eyes flashed angrily at him.
He wondered what he might have done to cause her ire. There were probably a thousand things someone might have told her about him, which may have angered her, but somehow, he sensed it was something different entirely. As she turned and gazed minutely at one of the guards standing post close to the door it was clear to him that she indeed wished for privacy. He had grown up in the palace and the company of guards hardly fazed him, although he of course knew far better than to speak too freely in their company.
Loki took a step back from the door to allow her entrance. He could practically see the nervous quality of Seiðr jumping around her and although he had little to fear from her in that regard, he also did not fancy having his properties destroyed just because the princess seemed to be having a temper.
Freiya entered only a second later, all but slamming the door closed behind herself forcefully.
The trickster frowned at the upset princess, feeling that he was missing vital parts of the information at this moment. He settled on waiting for her to state her actual cause and resumed his seat at the table, ignoring her presence altogether as he looked back to the book he had been reading on the balcony before the princess had caused the weather to shift.
From the corner of his eyes, Loki could see her fidgeting next to the door for a long moment before she seemed to exhale forcefully. The Seiðr around her visibly began to calm and it seemed to get lighter again outside. The residual rumbling of thunder still showed how close to eruption the princess's power really was though.
The princess stepped closer finally and he saw her lingering in front of the table. The accusation in her tone took him a little by surprise "You have evaded me since the feast" she said.
Loki made a show of finishing the page he was reading, before he wet the tip of his finger and turned to the next page, assembling his thoughts while he did so. "Not purely by my own choice" he admitted after a few moments.
He finally looked up at her and closed the book again after marking the page carefully. The rather loud thunderbolt crashing down right in front of his balcony made him pause.
"I know" the princess retorted through clenched teeth.
Loki frowned as he had not expected this kind of answer. He would have almost understood her anger at him if she assumed he did not wish to spend time with her or teach her about Seiðr and thus choose to altogether evade her. "I do not fancy a future prospect in the dungeons of Asgards for the rest of my days".
He watched the princess carefully and he could basically see the gears turning in her mind, processing what he had just told her. Her eyes flashed with fresh anger "Oh, I would join you" she assured him with way too much conviction to just be said flippantly.
He raised a brow at her "I can already picture it" he answered sarcastically "The beloved princess of Asgard sitting on a pillow in front of the dungeon simply to be the company of Asgard's greatest misfit" his tone was dripping with disdain at the end.
Freiya seemed utterly unimpressed by his open hostility and being mocked as well. She took a step closer to the table and sat down on a chair next to him, grasping onto one of his hands too quickly for him to retreat out of her reach. Their Seiðr connected immediately and the sun shone outside once again as if nothing had been amiss at all.
"If I have to, I will" the princess repeated her assurance with even more conviction, but visibly calmer "Do you know what this means?" she asked, switching the topic quickly and pulling their connected hands a little higher to emphasize what she was referring to.
Loki shook his head in the negative. He had searched for answers on the topic, but he had come up empty-handed. He faintly remembered having heard once about such a phenomenon. There did not seem to be scripts about it on Asgard unfortunately.
If he interpreted her expression correctly to his denial, she appeared surprised. Her features softened and were slowly being illuminated by an almost shy smile "Frigga only told me that it shows a deep instinctual trust. It has happened with no one else besides you" she said and her eyes seemed to shine with what might be hope.
Loki huffed at the absurdity of this particular notion to him. He pulled his hand back forcefully, severing their connection. He had not asked Frigga about this phenomenon, but he should have known she might have at least some knowledge about it. His eyes narrowed at her "I do not trust anyone" he said as bluntly as possible, leaving no room for doubt.
Freiya did not appear too bothered by his words though. "I do not know what made you distrust everyone so much, Loki, but if Frigga is in any way correct about this then at least some part of you knows that I am worthy of being the exemption of your rule there".
"Leave!" he ordered her in a tone that usually made even Thor reconsider to continue antagonizing him.
Sadness flashed through her eyes for a moment. "I am sorry if I offended you som…" she tried to apologize.
Loki did not let her finish though, instead, he waved his hand and the princess would find herself right outside of his locked door again. He had used this spell only a handful of times before as it was rather offensive to be thrown out in this fashion.
His mind was on overdrive now and he needed to be alone. He doubted Frigga had told Freiya everything there was to know about their connection. He could make an educated guess to Odin also knowing about this connection. Both, the king and queen, had seen the connection during the feast. On the very next morning, Loki had been visited by Odin, ordering him away from their princess.
He wondered if Frigga would enclose the whole truth to him if he searched for her and asked her directly. But he highly doubted it.
Something within him simply refused to even entertain the idea of trusting this weird bond. Not if he had no idea of its nature.
Another part of him was afraid. Just because they had instinctual trust for each other, did not have to mean automatically that the princess would prove loyal to him. Loki was still convinced enough time on Asgard would cure her of whatever infatuation she may be entertaining about him.
If he had accepted one fact about his life, it was that he was destined to be alone. If he allowed himself to entertain the hope that it just might play out differently this time, Loki just knew it would utterly destroy him.
No, Freiya would hardly prove to be true. He did not believe it. He could not.